Fields of Vision: A Journey to Canada's Family Farms

Zita Murphy is a social and political sciences librarian at the Ryerson
Polytechnical Institute.

The author, accompanied by friend and photographer Ken Ginn, set out in
1988 to record a picture of the family farm and farm families in Canada
before they disappear. Covering more than 30,000 kilometres of Canadian
soil in their quest, they visited farms and talked with farmers from
west to north to east, including the Powers brothers of Newfoundland,
whose cows receive the first rays of sunshine on the most easterly farm
field in North America. Jenkins and Ginn, self-described “rural
romantics,” are obviously sympathetic observers, as shown in the
author’s observation that “[it] is said that 85% of the best
farmland in Ontario is visible from the CN Tower. Unfortunately, Toronto
is sitting on it!”

This clear and concise first-person account includes segments of
dialogue taken from interviews with representative farmers, male and
female. I would have preferred to see the 33 vivid color photos
interspersed throughout the text rather than clustered in the middle of
the book. Despite some minor editing blemishes (Summerville Airforce
base should read Summerside), the reader’s interest will be sustained
by the author’s nonintrusiveness and obvious sincerity.

By exploring, questioning, revealing, and describing the fears and
hopes of Canada’s farm families, Fields of Vision has achieved its own
objectives.